


Heartlines

by slowjaems



Category: NCT (Band), NCT Dream
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Wolves, Elves, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Mages, Magic, Prince Lee Jeno, Prince Mark Lee (NCT), Prince! Mark, Werewolves, elf! hyuck, prince! jeno
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:55:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23897872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slowjaems/pseuds/slowjaems
Summary: "In another universe, I protect you with everything I have."At eleven, Prince Mark Lee stumbles across ancient creatures of the forest that introduce him to a life outside the castle walls. The tensions between humans and elves continue to unravel in the face of his impending kingship — but politics and humanity’s dark secret do little to stop him from developing an attachment to a skilled elven archer with a not so secret hatred of humans.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 5
Kudos: 45





	Heartlines

Mark is eleven when he sneaks out of his father’s coronation. He’d been sitting at the table with the rest of his siblings, pretending to be listening to his brother, Jaehyun, bore him about how in just a few years, they would be the ones having the heavily weighted, golden crown placed on their heads. At eleven, Mark hadn’t cared about ruling a nation, he just wanted one of the small cakes the cooks were serving the other banquet tables. But his mother, the Queen, had said no because “You’ll ruin your fine silks with crumbs, Minhyung.”

Alongside ruling a nation, Mark hadn’t really cared about his fine silks either. The coronation was just as boring, and after hearing his father give a long, drawn-out speech about the importance of ensuring peace (when Mark could have sworn he heard him go on a rant the entire night before about bringing destruction to bordering nations), he’d been more than glad when his younger brother had tugged on his sleeve.

“What is it?” He had asked, using the sleeve of his fine silk that his mother had been nagging him about to wipe grape juice stains from around Jeno’s mouth.

Mark doesn’t particularly care for his father and his delirious, power-hungry midnight rants or his mother and her obsession with perfection and the lack of. He could tolerate his older brother, Jaehyun, when he wasn’t so dedicated to his eventual rule. But his young brother, Jeno, was different. Jeno didn’t care about politics or appearances and Mark figures it's because they’re both so young and unimpressed with their own royal blood. As a prince, he wasn’t allowed to attend the same schools as the other kids, so he spent more time around the castle where he pretended to be annoyed with Jeno following his every step. But, underneath his complaints, he adored his little brother. After all, he was Mark’s only friend in the castle.

“I saw something in the forest.” Jeno whispers, practically bouncing with excitement, “I want to show you.”

Mark has been warned countless times about going into the forest bordering the city. He had taken the warning much more seriously when he was five and his brother Jaehyun had told him that there were monsters out there that were going to rip his eyes out and he would have to spend the rest of his life as the blind Lee prince. But eleven years of seeing guards and soldiers return from the forest to report to his father has made Mark more curious than afraid.

His afternoon lessons on diplomacy taught him that he would have to interact with the other creatures of the world. He’s seen drawings and paintings of dwarves, shapeshifters, mages, and elves, but he’s never seen any in person. Jaehyun told him it was because the nations were at war, but Mark thought it had been just another lie his brother told him to frighten him. He hadn’t seen any armies marching on the horizon, and even now, everyone was smiling as his father received the title of king.

“Well,” Mark watches his younger brother closely, “Are you ready then?”

Jeno nods enthusiastically before slipping out of his chair and sneaking to the opposite side of the room, and it makes Mark smile before he returns his attention to the coronation, or so it seems. He devised this plan with his little brother a few years ago, just in case they were trapped in an engagement too boring for words, which just so happened to be the case the day of their father’s coronation. Mark watches and waits, and when one of the servers passes by with a tray piled high, he discreetly sticks a leg out. The server stumbles, eyes widening before they trip, the tray flying from their hands.

Mark jumps out of his chair and escapes just as goblets of wine stain his mother's silk dress and Jaehyun’s royal blue sash. The banquet hall erupts in the noise then, the King’s speech long forgotten as the Queen shrieks, and Jaehyun tries to calm his mother. The Queen’s attendees rush towards her, desperate to get rid of the stains while the King wanders over in confusion. The guests are rambling with shock and Mark uses the opportunity to find Jeno hiding in the back of the crowd. His brother has a makeshift slingshot with a grape lined up as ammo.

“Remember to aim for the mouth.” Mark tells him, echoing the same words he was often told at his own archery training.

Jeno nods, eyes narrowed in concentration. As expected, the King starts to shout at the server about his clumsiness, making the man flush and lower his head with embarrassment. Mark shakes his head just as Jeno releases the sling and the grape goes sailing through the banquet hall before promptly plunging into their father’s mouth, abruptly cutting the King’s words off as he chokes.

“Looks like the tyrant’s out for the count.” Mark observes as their father thrashes wildly, servants and guests struggling to make sense of the erratic motioning to his throat. He turns to his brother and ruffles his hair, “Nice work, kid. Now, let’s get out of here!” 

Jeno’s cheeks are dusted a faint pink as he nods before grabbing his older brother’s hand, pulling him out of the banquet hall. Mark allows himself to be led away, ignoring the looks of the knights at each post as they go. The princes weren’t allowed outside of the castle unless it was for training or schooling, and the King’s coronation was no exception. But Mark had made it a personal mission to know as much about the knights as possible, and at just eleven years old, he had enough blackmail to secure his and Jeno’s escape outside of the castle gates.

The day his father is crowned king, the skies over the city are gloomy and dull. Mark stares up at the ominous, dark clouds and prepares to turn Jeno around and tell him that they can try again another day. But as Jeno leads him through a narrow alley beside the castle gates that, while overlooked, seemed to lead directly to the forest, he notices that the dullness begins to fade into warm, distant sunlight.

The first sign of trees makes Mark swallow thickly. He reaches for his side with his free hand, noting with dread that while he didn’t know how to use it that well, he had forgotten his sword. He knows that, while there were no monsters in the woods that would tear his eyes out, there were other forms of life and perhaps, he notes with even more dread, maybe something worse than monsters obsessed with princely eyes. His only assurance is Jeno, who jumps over branches and avoids hunters traps with the ease of someone who’s well acquainted with the forest.

Mark isn’t surprised by Jeno’s ease among the trees and branches. As he was the youngest, Jeno got away with skipping his lessons more than Mark and Jaehyun. Despite being the Queen’s youngest and most precious, she had a bad habit of losing him, or, as Mark found, Jeno was just really good at escaping. Even now, he’s pulling Mark along with the ease of someone that knows he won’t be caught. Mark lets him, trees passing by like distant memories before he starts to grow worried. Just how far had Jeno ventured?

“Jeno-“ He starts, only for his eyes to widen when his brother grabs his arms and pushes him against a tree suddenly.

“Shh!” Jeno shushes him before pointing in the direction behind them, “They’re right there.”

Mark wants to ask who _they_ are but instead, he nods slowly before peeking around the tree. The first thing he notices is the riverbank surrounded by herbs and unruly waters overflowing a cliff. What catches his attention next has a soft gasp escaping his lips. He’s read several history books, sat through drawn-out lectures from his instructor, and traced his fingers over the paintings that went on sale in the markets. But none of that has prepared him to see the ancient people who moved like the night.

The three elves before him are just as small and slender as the paintings and drawings depicted them, their ears curve from their heads, defined and sharp, and underneath the bright sunlight, they are just as ethereal. The first is sitting among a small patch of herbs, picking ginger roots to put into a handwoven bag. Strands of ash blue hair fell into his face as he worked but when he glances up in search of one of his companions, Mark takes note of the bright white markings curled around his eyes.

He’s heard of the markings and their importance in Elven history. He knows that their location and color indicated several things – the elves' age, their nature, but most importantly, their role in the clan. Mark realizes with bitterness that perhaps, he should have taken his diplomacy and history lessons a bit more serious.

The next elf is tanner than the others, sitting on the ground pouting as he nurses a cut on his cheek. His brunet hair is disheveled, warm, brown eyes reflected in the sunlight, though Mark finds it hard to tear his eyes away from the bow strapped to the elf’s back or the black markings covering the left side of his face like root tendrils. Mark watches as the blue-haired elf rolls his eyes at the other’s whining before pulling some sort of salve from his bag that he squeezes the top off, swiping a thin layer before smearing it on the brunet elf’s cheek. The brunet elf’s squirming and whining stop immediately as he melts under the other elf’s touch.

A third elf is watching them from where he’s standing atop a rock on the river. He seemed to be smaller than the other two, but the way he stood on the rock, shaking his head at them let Mark know that he was in charge. Instead of a bow, a finely crafted wooden staff was strapped to his back, his dark hair was slightly longer than the others, and his markings seemed transparent, nearly invisible to the eye though they curved from his forehead and disappeared beneath the hair around his ears. But then, Mark watches as they seemed to turn a deep, fiery color before the boy’s head snapped in the direction that Mark and Jeno were hiding behind the tree.

“You can come out when you’re ready.” He says, and his voice is just as soothing as the books had described it would be, despite any malice it might have held.

Mark snaps out of his amazement to shiver. Surely the elf hadn’t spotted them that quickly. But, to make matters worse, an arrow comes whizzing past them, embedding into the tree directly behind them. When Mark glances around the tree, it’s to see that the brunet elf is now on his feet, lining another arrow in his bow.

“We’re not interested in your silly games of hide and seek, humans.” He says, narrowing his eyes as he aims another arrow, “Come out now and we might play nice.”

 _Might_ is what sticks out to Mark who’s prepared to motion to his brother to run with the hopes that they can actually make it back to the castle safely. But then, he watches with absolute dread as Jeno shakes out of his hold and runs from the safety of the tree towards the river. Mark follows, grabbing his brother before he can step in the water, towards the dark-haired elf who watches them closely.

“W-We’re sorry!” Jeno exclaims quickly, dropping to his knees and clasping his hands together, “We just wanted to know if you guys were real.”

Mark wonders how much he would sound like Jaehyun if he told his brother that princes weren’t supposed to beg for mercy, let alone human princes. Technically, they were superior to the elves, though that included a history of driving the ancient creatures off their lands. The elves couldn’t harm them without sparking another civil war, but that didn’t mean covering up a murder in the woods as a bear attack was out of the question.

“I hope we look better than the clumsy paintings humans make.” The dark-haired elf says with an amused smirk, the blue-haired elf smiles in agreement and the brunet elf scoffs as if paintings did not do them justice. Surprisingly, Mark found himself agreeing with the ancient creatures, watercolors and pastels did no justice for the classical, otherworldly beauty before him. He watches as the dark-haired elf tilts his head, “But you two aren’t the average human, are you?”

His eyes are on the fine silks that Mark’s mother has been nagging him about all morning. It’s a clear indication that they came from wealth, even a creature of the forest could tell.

“I’m Jeno, and this is my brother, Minhyung.” Jeno blurts out before Mark can stop him, “We’re sons of the king.-“

“ _Jeno_!” Mark hisses, grabbing his brother by his shirt and pulling him back from the elf. He’s seen and heard enough, and now, he wants to go back to the castle.

Jeno’s words appear to spark something in the elves. The brunet lowers his bow slightly, looking somewhat disappointed, the blue-haired elf looks curious, and the dark-haired elf’s markings fade back to their transparent nature.

“How did two princes make it this far out in the forest?” The blue-haired elf wonders out loud.

“Does it matter?” The brunet elf speaks up, “Humans worship their royalty. They’ll send out search parties on _our_ territory just to find these two. We should tell the Keeper.”

 _Keeper_. Mark has heard that word before. The Keepers were their clan leaders, the one the elves sought spiritual and political guidance from.

“We shouldn’t bother him with something like this. He already worries too much.” The dark-haired elf says quickly, looking anxious now that his leadership was being tested. He turns to Mark and Jeno then, “If we tell you our names, do you promise not to give us any trouble?”

Mark nods quickly. He wants to tell them that he never had any intention of harming them, though the history between humans and elves would probably make them laugh in his face afterward.

“We promise!” Jeno assures them, making the blue-haired elf smile.

“It’s almost as if all of our ancient texts say _not_ to trust the humans.” The brunet elf says to their temporary leader, “Because lands get destroyed and people like us are turned into servants when we do-“

“Well, it doesn’t help if they don’t trust us either!” The dark-haired elf shoots back, ignoring the way the brunet rolls his eyes in response. He returns his attention to Mark and Jeno, “I’m Renjun, this is Donghyuck and Jaemin.”

“Nice to meet you!” The blue-haired elf, Jaemin exclaims, before he looks a bit hesitant, cheeks a faint pink as he adds, “Isn’t that what humans say to each other in the city?”

“Nice to meet you, Jaemin.” Mark says before he can stop himself. But the blue-haired elf seemed friendly enough. Jeno is holding his brother’s hand tightly, and when Jaemin smiles widely at Mark’s words, the younger squeezes Mark’s hand.

“He’s royalty.” Renjun speaks up suddenly, bowing with a small smile, “You’re supposed to call him your highness.”

“Minhyung is fine.” Mark tells them, rubbing the back of his neck with a shy smile.

“Do you all have princes and princesses?” Jeno asks to which Jaemin looks amused by the idea, Donghyuck scoffs, and Renjun shakes his head.

“There is no such thing as royalty among elves. We share the same resources so technically, we all have the same status and wealth. As far as leadership, we look to the Keeper. He’s not necessarily the oldest, but somehow, the wisest.” Renjun informs them. 

“Oh yes, let’s tell the humans how our clan works while we’re at it.” Donghyuck speaks up, rolling his eyes though he finally lowers his bow and visibly sulks because he doesn’t seem to have any authority over Renjun or the situation.

“They asked.” Renjun shrugs, “It can’t hurt, and maybe they can use the information to fix their history books.”

“We’re supposed to be getting rid of them, not giving them a history lesson-“ Donghyuck retorts making Jaemin cringe because it seemed that going against the authority in their clan was looked down upon. But the brunet doesn’t seem to care because he stares Renjun down as if he’s going to put an arrow through him next.

“In case you haven’t noticed, they’re not the average human. We can’t treat them like how they treat us unless you don’t want to have a clan to go back to!”

Mark watches with wide eyes as the two elves bicker. Jeno is clinging to his back from where he’s hiding, glancing at the two elves every so often. Jaemin has gone back to picking herbs, apparently more than used to the sight. Donghyuck is waving an arrow in the air threateningly and Renjun’s veins have begun to pop out with the way he shouts at the other boy. Mark realizes that they should use the opportunity to escape but he’s fascinated by seeing such a contradiction to the submissive, peaceful elves shown in his textbooks. But luckily (or unluckily), he hears a familiar voice that makes them all freeze. 

“I hear something over here!” Someone shouts.

Mark feels as if he merely blinks before the stream is suddenly surrounded by knights.

“There you are!” Mark and Jeno’s personal guard, Youngho, is there, eyeing them both wearily as his knights advance on the elves.

“No!” Mark shouts when the knights jump into the water, wading across to get to the elves.

By now, Jaemin has grabbed his bag from the ground and avoided the swing of one knight’s word, Donghyuck has shot an arrow from his bow that’s pinned one knight to a tree, and Renjun has jumped from his rock to the other side of the river to join his companions.

“No?” Youngho repeats with a confused frown, but Mark doesn’t have time to explain. At this rate, the elves would get hurt.

Without realizing it, he steps forward, only for his foot to slip. The prince flails before slipping into the river, and Jeno tries to reach for him, only to end up being pulled back by Youngho when he nearly falls in as well. The river isn’t difficult to manage if you’re a knight who’s used to high waters and strong currents. But Mark is a prince, who, unfortunately, cannot swim and is much shorter and smaller than the men storming their way across the water. He’s going to drown, and the realization makes him panic, arms flailing as the knights who are still so far away hurry to save him.

But just as his head sinks below the current, the water seems to come to life. The stream rises, pushing his body up with it. The prince blinks in shock at the stream of water carrying him like a cloud towards the solid ground. He lands on his feet beside an equally shocked Youngho and Jeno. Mark has never seen anything like it, and when he looks over, it’s to see Renjun holding his staff above his head and even in the distance, he can see that the elf’s markings have turned a dark blue, mimicking the current.

“Farewell, your highness!” Jaemin calls out with a wave and a sweet smile before retreating into the trees.

Once he sees the prince is safe, Renjun straps his staff to his back before following. Donghyuck is the least to leave. Most of the knights have been pinned to trees and roots courtesy of his bow and arrow. He looks across the river, eyes meeting Mark’s eyes briefly before he shakes his head and runs after the others.

Mark tries to calm his heavy breathing. The loud echo of his heartbeat fills his ears as he looks at the unruly river to the knights pinned against trees before looking back just in time to see Jeno come crashing into his arms.

“I’m okay.” Mark says, rubbing his little brother’s back, though the shakiness in his voice said otherwise.

“Ambushed by elves” Youngho speaks up, looking both disappointed with his knights but also confused by the turn of events before he turns his attention to the two princes, shaking his head, “The King isn’t going to be happy to hear about this.”

Mark frowns at the use of the word “ambushed.” If anything, they had ambushed the elves with their sudden appearance. And hadn’t Donghyuck said they were on elven territory?

“We weren’t ambushed.” He tells the knight captain, “We snuck out of father’s ceremony to see them…to see if they were real.”

“And you see how that ended.” Youngho replies, motioning to where the knights are cringing as they remove the arrows pinning them to the trees, “Elves are dangerous, Minhyung. They could have killed you!”

“But they didn’t!” Mark’s never been particularly passionate about anything, but he doesn’t want Renjun and the others to get in trouble, especially not since it was technically his and Jeno’s fault for spying on them. “Renjun saved me with his magic! You saw, right hyung?”

“And you know their names?” The Knight Captain frowns, “Just how long have you two been out here?”

“Not long” Mark answers before he’s grabbing the Knight’s sleeve with Jeno pulling the man’s other arm, “You’re not going to hurt them, right hyung? They saved me and-“

“Let’s not worry about that right now, Minhyung.” Youngho interrupts, waving their concerns off, “Your mother’s dress is ruined, your father nearly saw death by fruit, and they believe the princes are missing. Let’s just get you two back to the castle before things get worse.”

Mark nods, shoulders sagging with defeat. He knew there was no use arguing with the Knight Captain. Youngho was like the King’s unofficial fourth son and the title of Knight Captain gave him more authority than the average knight held. Mark would just have to trust that Youngho wasn’t the typical human who used any excuse to torture elves and other creatures on the lands. He knows that if his father became aware of the encounter, he would call for the annihilation of the clan, which meant that Mark would never see Renjun, Jaemin, or Donghyuck again.

He realizes that he shouldn’t care. Sovereignty and forced pride in his race told him that he should despise the elves and treat them as the inferiors history had made them out to be. But the elves that he had met were kind to him and more interesting than any textbook. He wanted to know about herbs Jaemin had been collecting, he wants to see more of Renjun’s magic, and he even found himself fascinated with the markings on Donghyuck’s face and his bow. He wants to know more about their Keeper, how they knew about human sovereignty and politics, and if they had siblings like how Mark had Jeno and Jaehyun. They weren’t friends but Mark wants to be. Besides Jeno, he just has the same castle walls and stoic faced knights. The forest was different, and the elves were refreshing and new.

But, as he follows Youngho and the other knights back through the thicket of trees, he realizes he won’t seem them again for a while. The Knight Commander would either tell his father about the elves and a civil war would follow that would turn the forest into a battlefield and put Donghyuck’s clan in danger or Youngho would lie on Mark and Jeno’s behalf and their father would ban them from a life outside the castle walls. Either way, the forest would be off-limits once the King found out. So, Mark holds tightly to Jeno’s hand and glances back at the forest one last time before looking forward as they return to the castle to meet their fate. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this looks promising! 
> 
> There will be a time jump with the next chapter. They're 10-11 in this but in the next chapter, time will have passed so they'll be older (I'll be sure to mention their age then) and it will be revealed whether the King was told about the elves or not. 
> 
> If you're reading this, thank you for reading! ❤


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